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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29407134">Here for her, here for you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveamongstars/pseuds/loveamongstars'>loveamongstars</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bonding, Car Accidents, Car Chases, Ethan and Thomas bond a little, F/M, Gen, Hospitals, Injured Juliet Higgins, Juliet Higgins Whump, Major Character Injury</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:40:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29407134</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveamongstars/pseuds/loveamongstars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"He stopped the moment they reached the door. Shaking hands reached for the glass through which he could see her. It was cold to the touch. He involuntarily shivered and pulled back just a little, before reconnecting with the glass. He stared at the bed inside. In it, looking impossibly small, lay Juliet Higgins, bandages almost everywhere he could see, including her head."</p>
<p>After a car chase resulted in a terrible accident, Thomas finds himself in the hospital, sitting by Juliet's bed, hoping she would survive. Luckily he does not have to endure it alone for long.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Juliet Higgins/Ethan Shah, Juliet Higgins/Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was shaking all over. Every muscle seemed to contract, with nerves, even as he carefully took one step after the other, walking along the sad, cold, and sterile corridors of King’s Medical Center. A nurse walked next to him, ready to steady him the moment he should falter. He wouldn’t. His legs were fine. Thomas Magnum still swayed a little, not because he was unsteady. It felt surreal, wrong even. He should not be alone here. He should be in the hospital bed, surrounded by his friends, not on his way to another room, to sit vigil. And it was all his fault. </p>
<p>He stopped the moment they reached the door. Shaking hands reached for the glass through which he could see her. It was cold to the touch. He involuntarily shivered and pulled back just a little, before reconnecting with the glass. He stared at the bed inside. In it, looking impossibly small, lay Juliet Higgins, bandages almost everywhere he could see, including her head. Only her face, cut and bruised was uncovered. She almost looked peaceful. Maybe if he just kept looking at her face, he would not have to leave the illusion of her sleeping peacefully. But just one small shift in where he looked and the illusion was gone. She was surrounded by so many machines, all of them adding to her appearing smaller than she was. They were keeping her alive, right now. </p>
<p>“You don’t have to go inside,” the nurse said as she kept standing next to him. Thomas shook his head.</p>
<p>“No… I want to… I need to.” The nurse nodded and opened the door for him. She kindly pulled a chair up next to Juliet’s bed, so he could sit down. Thomas was wearing a hospital gown himself, though he had managed to sweet-talk a nurse into giving him scrub pants so he didn’t have to walk around half-exposed. </p>
<p>Thomas sat down in the chair and reached out for her hand, though he stopped himself the moment he saw the gadgets on it. Normally, if things were different, he would not feel this insecure, but… there was no way he would further endanger her just because he wanted to hold her hand. He had done enough already. He looked at the nurse. She nodded, a kind smile on her lips as she slowly retreated, leaving them alone. Thomas carefully took Juliet’s hand in his, ensuring he would not hinder the IV that was attached to the back of her hand or the oxygen saturation monitor.</p>
<p>“Jules…” he whispered. He didn’t know how to continue. What did you say to one of your best friends, who was currently in a coma because of you, he wondered? He didn’t know. He just needed her to make it through the night, make it through this ordeal, to come back home and be fine, whatever that looked like. He, ad this point, would do anything to ensure her comfort at home. He drove the car that literally put her here. “Please fight this, Jules. Please wake up again. I…” Again he didn’t know what to say to her? He wouldn’t know what to do without her. She had become such an integral part of his life, his experience in Hawai’i, that he couldn’t imagine it without her ever again, hadn’t been able to back when she encountered the visa issue, nor now when she was just a small step away from death. One second could easily separate her from the other world. Somehow she was still hanging on to this, even though it took everything it got out of him to keep her from dying in the wreckage of the Ferrari.</p>
<p>The Ferrari was totaled, too. He knew she would probably be pissed at that fact alone. He really would love to hear her scold him for totaling the Ferrari right now. It would mean she woke up, it would mean she would be fine. He wanted her to be fine more than anything else in this world right now. </p>
<p>“Please…” he repeated, knowing it would be a long, hard night in which she had to do most of the fighting alone. All he could do was to sit here, hold her and hope for the best. There was no way he would leave her side. He would stay here, hoping his support would at least help her a little. It was almost shocking to him how pale she was. It showed how very much not okay she was right now.</p>
<p>He was startled by the door opening again. He turned to find a familiar face, still dressed in scrubs, his hair in disarray: Doctor Ethan Shah, Higgins’ boyfriend. Thomas had seen him earlier as he was brought in. He checked in on him, asked about Juliet, gave Thomas an update, and then excused himself, telling him he couldn’t just stand there and wait and pace around when other victims of the crash needed surgery and he could provide that. Thomas assumed he was finally done with the surgery on the woman he had on the table.</p>
<p>“How did the surgery go?” Thomas asked him, not loud, but audible enough for Ethan to pick up on it. </p>
<p>“Lost her,” Ethan answered. He leaned against the door frame and watched Magnum. “How are you doing?”</p>
<p>“Juliet is still not responding, she…” </p>
<p>“Thomas, I can read her stats, I asked about you, not Juliet,” Ethan pointed out as he interrupted Thomas. It only half surprised Thomas. Ethan had made an honest effort to be friendly to him, Rick, TC, Gordon, and Kumu. He cared about Juliet and that extended almost automatically to her friends and family. Thomas also couldn’t blame him for choosing to work after learning the catastrophic state she was in. He figured if she had been in a similar situation, he would have done the same. He wasn’t, so after they had fixed up his injuries all he could do was wait, worry, wait and almost lose his mind just thinking about her passing away. Ethan instead tried to save another life, the life of a woman also injured in the devastating crash caused by Thomas, or so he told himself.</p>
<p>“I’m fine,” Thomas said and chose to look at Juliet again. He heard Ethan step closer to him, but his hand on his shoulder surprised him anyway.</p>
<p>“Would you like to try that again? This time with the truth?”</p>
<p>“Not really, no.” Thomas really did not want to talk about it. It was bad enough that he felt it. The hand on his shoulder disappeared. </p>
<p>“I’ll give you a few moments, Thomas. I will be right back.” Thomas turned around to look at Ethan leaving the room. That confused him, actually. But then he realized Ethan was still in his scrubs. He fully expected him to come back in civilian clothing and stay with him by Juliet’s side through the night. There was just no way he would leave her side this night, not as she was fighting for her life. He squeezed her hand again.</p>
<p>“Come on, Jules, you can do this. You’re not alone, either. Ethan is here and I am and we’re right here with you.” He knew Ethan would be back and honestly, he was glad he would be. He was glad not to be alone with his thoughts that night. And he wouldn’t be alone with his thoughts if Juliet didn’t win her fight. Any other day Rick and TC would be there, but they were on the mainland. They would catch the earliest flight back, but that wasn’t until the next day, and well, it meant he would be alone tonight if it weren’t for Ethan. Maybe, if it came to it, Ethan could pull a few strings to let them stay in this room for as long as Higgins was fighting to survive. He just kept holding her hand, kept running his thumb over the back of his hand until Ethan returned.</p>
<p>Ethan had changed and was holding a tray with food. He placed it on the table in the room, which he pulled to one end of the room. Thomas watched him curiously, but he just didn’t find it in him to ask what this was about. He could imagine what the food was for: Ethan had probably not eaten anything since lunch, he figured with the timing of the victims coming in and he himself hadn’t either. Ever the doctor, Ethan was prepared to feed both of them, with something that looked, in general not very healthy, but it qualified as comfort food, which both of them might need. Just the movement of the table was what confused him.</p>
<p>“You should have gotten jelly,” Thomas commented weakly.</p>
<p>“To tempt her out of the coma? I’m afraid we only had the terribly bland stuff left. I would never feed anybody willingly with that stuff, sorry.”</p>
<p>“I assume those are for both of us?”</p>
<p>“You would be correct there, Thomas. I double-checked with your nurses, by the way, and they confirmed to me you refused to eat before seeing her, so, I want you to eat something now.” Thomas rolled his eyes. He really did not feel like eating anything right now. He felt like…just staying here, holding Juliet’s hand and… replaying what happened over and over again in his head. He heard Ethan sigh as he pulled a chair to Juliet’s bed on the other side. He reached up to stroke her cheek, his eyes sad, but loving. He loved her and Thomas was glad he was here with him. She had two people in the room, who loved her, ready to stay with her through the night no matter what. </p>
<p>“You know, I heard what happened,” Ethan said. He didn’t look away from Juliet. Thomas could only assume that it was to allow him to react in whatever way possible. He was glad, really. If it really was the case it showed Ethan was good at this type of bedside manner. He was surely not the only loved one of a comatose patient Ethan encountered. Only this time it was his own girlfriend's friend. That made it different regardless. He wasn’t sure if he should say it. Maybe Ethan would kick him out. He would be right to. It was his fault, he should probably protect Higgins from his idiocy that brought her. He decided to go for the truth…at least for his own truth.</p>
<p>“So you heard it was my fault.” Ethan’s head shot up. He looked at him, eyes wide, surprised.</p>
<p>“Your fault? No, far from it. What I heard was…”</p>
<p>“I drove the car that caused the crash! I was the one losing control that caused so many cars to crash into another. I killed that woman! I maybe even killed Juliet! I…I might have killed Juliet…” </p>
<p>“Hey, Thomas, no. You did not kill any of them! Especially not Juliet. She is hanging in, she is fighting,” he said. But Thomas could barely even see him. His eyes had gone blurry, they stung. He rubbed at them as he felt the first tear slip down his cheek. </p>
<p>“If I hadn’t lost control of the car…” He saw Ethan shake his head.</p>
<p>“What I heard is, that you were chasing these shooters. What I heard is, that they were swerving into the other lane to shake you or cause an accident that would apprehend both you and the police following you, what…”</p>
<p>“And yet I lost control! I couldn’t handle the chase…I… did this.”</p>
<p>“You did not.” Ethan got up. He rounded the bed and turned Thomas's chair. Thomas held onto Juliet’s hand still but was half looking at Ethan now. Ethan crouched in front of him. “You did not lose control.”</p>
<p>“I remember losing control, Ethan. I was there,” he protested. “Unlike you.”</p>
<p>“Thomas, you hit your head. Juliet suffered severe head trauma from it and you’re going to tell me the impact on you left you entirely unscathed? It didn’t, it screwed your memory up a bit.” Could it be? Of course, it could be.</p>
<p>“And what do you think happened?” It sounded a bit snappy, a bit like a challenge and truthfully, I was.</p>
<p>“The officers behind you said that the guys you chased drove into the other lane. Another car had to pull out of the lane fast to avoid them, causing you to pull out to try and avoid them.” So far Thomas was with him. And then he lost control. So Ethan essentially agreed with him.</p>
<p>“And then I lost control,” he said. “And landed Juliet here.” Ethan shook his head.</p>
<p>“And then you tried to avoid the second car trying to avoid being hit by the shooters, Thomas.” He didn’t remember a second car. There was no second car. That was impossible. And yet, it still didn’t explain his loss of control, at least not to him. “Thomas, please look outside for a moment.”</p>
<p>It had him curious, so he did. There was a steady platter of rain against the window, which he hadn’t noticed before. It was raining.</p>
<p>“It has been raining the entire day, Thomas. You had no chance. You would have either crashed into one of these cars or lost control. It is not your fault. It is the fault of these shooters. You tried your best. You couldn’t have done anything else.” As much as it may be true, it didn’t change the painful knot in his stomach, the way his mind circled back to how he drove the car in which Higgins got injured this badly. He should have been able to stop this. He should have been able to protect her somehow. But then again…Thomas looked down at himself, at the broken leg, the broken ribs, the shoulder, he was a mess himself, she just got it worse, because of where the other car crashed into theirs. </p>
<p>“It is not your fault, Thomas. And I am one hundred percent sure she would not blame you either, nor does Gordon, and I am also sure nor do Rick and TC.” Something he said caught Thomas's attention. While he was probably right about Juliet and he was very right about Rick and TC, how did he sound so sure about Gordon? Did he talk to him?</p>
<p>“What…how do you…know what Katsumoto thinks?”</p>
<p>“I talked to him as I handed him over to Doctor Marten.”</p>
<p>“You handed him over… you…he was here?”</p>
<p>“Still is,” Ethan said. “I thought you knew that.” He didn’t, but then again. HPD was right behind them, the Ferrari was just faster than most of the cruisers which had him and Juliet at the front. It was not unlikely that Katsumoto was in one of them. He would investigate the shootings, especially since him and Higgy had kept him in the loop.</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you… why did you hand him over?” As much as he had initial trouble with Ethan - and still wasn’t his biggest fan, honestly - he was a great surgeon and it didn’t sit right with him that he handed Katsumoto off to someone else. Why would he do that?</p>
<p>“I can’t operate on him, you can’t operate on family or friends, it’s against the rules. So Juliet, you, Rick, TC, Gordon, are all out of my hands.” Okay, yeah that did make sense. </p>
<p>“What did he… have?” He saw Ethan hesitate, but it looked like he chose to tell him.</p>
<p>“Nothing too serious. His calf got cut up pretty roughly. He’ll be out for a while, but he will be fine. He’s currently pretty drugged up, will probably remain so for the entire night.” Thomas nodded. So he got off lightly on that, too. He also actively refused extra drugs to help him sleep. He said he would rather stay up, sit with Juliet and rest that way. </p>
<p>The door opened and some orderlies came in, carrying…two cots and blankets and pillows. Ethan stood up.</p>
<p>“Right over there,” he told them and the two set it up easily. Thomas watched it confused. Were beds that short that people had to bunk in here, too? It might be crowded, but he would take it as long as he got to stay with Higgins through the night. He would go so far and beg Ethan to pull strings, but he had the feeling he didn’t have to. Ethan seemed pretty understanding, so he had the feeling he would pull these strings without him asking. Thomas sat back. He turned back to Juliet as Ethan busied himself with the cots. Thomas continued to run his thumb over her hand, looking at her. Nothing changed in her stats so far. He didn’t know if it was good or bad. It could be either, he knew as much. He hoped it was the first. He hoped Juliet would wake up, if not now, then hopefully when Rick and TC returned and brought Robin with them.</p>
<p>“Thomas, come over here, please,” Ethan called out. Thomas looked back to see he set up the cots. </p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>“One of them is for you, of course. I figured we could eat and watch the game here.”</p>
<p>“What game?” </p>
<p>“Tigers are playing. And if memory serves, you like them.” Thomas was baffled. He knew Ethan was around sometimes when he watched games, sometimes even with Rick and TC. He might have even mentioned it once when he grabbed something from the fridge in the main house. He couldn’t leave Juliet, he just couldn’t. <br/>“Come on. We will know when her stats are changing, we will hear that. And we want to be rested when she wakes up, so we can ensure she has everything she needs.” He made a good case, Thomas found.</p>
<p>“Will she know we…”</p>
<p>“She will know we are here. It is more likely she is able to hear us. And like I said, when she wakes up, she may need our help, so better we try to rest.” Thomas half doubted that it was all. Ethan was a doctor, a caretaker. He excelled in that and he had the sneaking suspicion the way he tried to care for him now, was as much for Thomas as it was for himself. He knew how to do this, it gave him safety probably. It made Ethan feel less helpless in this situation because that was what they were: Helpless. It was entirely on Higgy to pull through. They could be here and wait for her to come back to them, but they could not go out and drag her back to them. They could not make this easier on her. They were helpless. There was nothing they could do for her right now.</p>
<p>So Thomas got up and joined Ethan on the second cot. He could at least help Ethan not feel as helpless and…he had to rest to heal. He suspected Ethan wasn’t wrong about needing to help Juliet when she made it through - if she made it through.</p>
<p>“So what food do you have, doc?”</p>
<p>“Various sandwiches, most importantly a sinful grilled cheese.”</p>
<p>“I’ll take that.” Ethan gave him the Grilled Cheese Sandwich and a large bottle of water. Thomas made himself comfortable on the cot as Ethan turned on the TV so they could actually watch the game together. Eventually, Thomas fell asleep before the game ended.</p>
<p>When he woke up again, it was to a terribly alarming beeping and Ethan shouting: “I NEED A CRASH CART IN HERE, RIGHT NOW!” Thomas turned to find Ethan run back from the door to Higgins. He went straight for chest compressions. Thomas was immediately wide awake. Her stats had crashed. Her heart wasn’t beating rhythmically anymore, he could see that clearly on the monitor. Another monitor was going crazy as well. He didn’t dare move up from the cot. He knew he would probably just stand in the way. As finally doctors and nurses joined them, Ethan himself moved away from the bad against the wall. He had his hand in front of his move. His eyes were full of pain, glistening with what Thomas assumed were tears. For some reason, he could not tear his eyes away from Ethan. He leaned back against the wall and slid down, shaking his head, like he couldn’t believe what was happening. A tear slid down Ethan’s cheek. Thomas heard a terrible drawn-out beep, not dissimilar to the ringing in the ear you’d experience when a bomb goes off in close proximity to you. Ethan screamed in agony. He cried for real now. Thomas finally looked up at Juliet, seeing the doctors and nurses step back from her, allowing him to see that one flat line replaced the line showing Juliet’s steady, but weak heartbeat. </p>
<p>“No…” Thomas whispered. A second time that day his heart felt tight and painful as if someone tried to rip it out and crush it at the same time. His stomach turned, his eyes began to tear up as a cry tore free from his lungs: “NO, JULIET!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Thomas shot up on the cot. He heard the alarming beeping again and once again turned around to find Ethan’s cot empty. He looked at Juliet, fully expecting Ethan to cry for a crash cart again as if he was caught in a terrible version of groundhog day. Maybe his head was playing cruel tricks on him. This time Ethan seemed calm, though. He pulled Juliet’s empty IV from her central venous access. Thomas was shaking, the dream was still so terribly vivid in his head. And yet, one look at her stats showed him that her heart was beating steadily. Ethan pressed a button and the alarm stopped. </p>
<p>“What… what was that?”</p>
<p>“Oh, nothing,” Ethan said. “At least nothing bad. Her IV bag was just done. I already pressed the call button. They should be back to give her another one any second. I hoped I would manage to unhook it and turn the alarm off before you woke, but… that looked like a terrible nightmare.” A nightmare. That was what it was. Thomas, still shaking, sat up properly. He pulled himself up properly in the cot, pulled his uninjured leg closer as if to make himself small. </p>
<p>“It was… She…”</p>
<p>“Died in it?” Ethan asked. The door opened and a nurse walked in, handing him the bag with a smile. Ethan went to hook her up. Thomas watched how much it seemed routine to the man. He did this every day, but not to his girlfriend, or their friends. It was actually a good thing he was in the room with him. He could react fast. He… in that nightmare, Ethan might have been the only thing that had kept her alive a little longer. Luckily it was just a nightmare. It wasn’t real and yet it had felt real, it had felt as if he could have reached out and felt her skin grow cold and feel the sobs shake Ethan’s body.</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Ethan reached for the chart on Juliet’s bed, opened it, and held it out to Thomas, a finger pointing towards the section showing her oxygen saturation and heart rate.</p>
<p>“Read that and compare that to her current stats.” Thomas did so. A small smile appeared on his lips. It was quite clear when he had the difference so plainly in front of him in simple cold hard numbers that could not be misinterpreted. He felt warm, felt his body lose a bit of the tension he hadn’t realized he had been holding. In the dim light of the sterile hospital room, it was easy to focus on Juliet’s heartbeat once more. </p>
<p>“Her stats are getting better.” Ethan placed his hand on Thomas's shoulder as he nodded. Thomas could see the relief in his eyes, too, mirroring what he felt. “Do you think she will make it?”</p>
<p>“I am cautiously optimistic,” Ethan said, his expression shifted for a split second like he put up a mask or shield. Thomas understood he understood so very well: For that split second Ethan was just a doctor. But he hadn’t asked Doctor Shah. He had asked Ethan.</p>
<p>“That was doctor-speak, now I’d like Ethan to tell me what he thinks,” Thomas specified. Ethan chuckled. </p>
<p>“Well, if that is what you want. I think it’s not her heart we have to be worried about. I don’t think that will give in. I think the one thing we have to be worried about is the potential brain damage she sustained. I think she will easily survive the entire day, but… brain damage can be tricky. She could die on us even though her body stays alive and in that case, there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop it.” He looked back at Juliet, fear clear in his eyes. It came back to that feeling of helplessness, Thomas guessed. He hated feeling helpless. They were the same in that regard. But in this case, he guessed he wasn’t helpless, he could do something to help Ethan.</p>
<p>“Higgy is stubborn. If anyone can beat the odds at that, it is her,” Thomas said softly. “Come on, lay back down. I assume you have to work tomorrow?”</p>
<p>“Actually, no. I.. I couldn’t even if I wanted to, not while the two of you are in this state.”</p>
<p>“Hey, what do I have to do with that?”</p>
<p>“As much as you don’t want to admit it to yourself, Thomas, you’re not as well as you think.” Thomas smiled softly. It was clear Ethan worried about him, too. As much as he was still the outsider of the group, it was not for lack of effort on Ethan’s part, it was just a long period of getting to know each other. And he guessed they were all quite protective of Juliet by now, so that factored in, too. And their own pasts, with Hannah mainly. “One wrong move and you might accidentally puncture your lung and I really don’t want to be the one to tell Juliet how that happened.”</p>
<p>“Maybe I’ll heroically rescue someone to do it.” It took Ethan a moment to realize Thomas was joking with him, but then he grinned.</p>
<p>“It is way more likely you’ll randomly forget about your cast and just trip over yourself.”</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, you’re right there.” Ethan walked back to his cot and sat down as well. Thomas decided to lay back down. One look outside made it clear that it was still the middle of the night. Usually, nightmares disoriented him in his timing, so he didn’t even try to guess what time it was, but it was still night and Ethan seemed to want to settle back in again. For some reason, he trusted him about that. Actually, he realized, there was more he trusted him with, Juliet for example. He trusted everything he said about Juliet’s health, Gordon’s health and hell, even his own. Even though it was a hard thing to admit to himself, he trusted him with Juliet’s heart. Ethan was, as he learned by now, genuinely in love with her and he did not want to hurt her. Sometimes that still happened, but he would not go out to actively do so. That was worth a lot. Juliet’s last experience with love was Richard and that ended in a way that left Juliet almost traumatized. Ethan was so much safer in that regard. Ethan was probably exactly what she needed right now. Maybe he should be more open to that. </p>
<p>Thomas turned to look back at Higgins. The wait wasn’t easy, but he vowed to himself in that moment to make healing as easy on her as he could, to support her fully in all of it, even in her relationship with Ethan. The way she looked in that bed just added to that vow. She looked so fragile, small like anything could harm her in that moment. It was so very different from the powerhouse he was used to. He hated to see her like that. But right now there was nothing he could do but wait for her to hopefully wake up and be there for her, for whatever she needed.</p>
<p>Thomas pulled the blanket over him, ready to settle in when he noticed Ethan’s look. His mouth was slightly open, eyes slightly wider than usual, as if he just…had some form of revelation.</p>
<p>“What?” Thomas asked. As that look was directed at him, he felt his heart flutter in nerves. Something in Ethan’s look made him think that whatever it was, it might be a bit of an issue.</p>
<p>“You love her.”</p>
<p>“What? No! No.” Thomas replied. There it was, three words, that hang in the air between them, that sped his heart up again because that could seriously change everything, not only between him and Ethan but also between Ethan and Juliet and after just making a resolution to himself about supporting her and him, that would throw a wrench into that. And he really didn’t fancy a change in the dynamic they had started to build up. It was a good and unexpected development. Animosity could build between them and that was something he wanted to avoid.</p>
<p>“Thomas…you love her. I see the way you look at her. Maybe you haven’t admitted it to yourself yet, but you do.” Ethan spoke somehow almost softly to him, almost as if he didn’t want to spook him. Could it be possible that that was the case? Could it be that he was right? Thomas once again looked at Juliet. He loved her, he knew he loved her like anyone would love their best friend, but…maybe there was more. He felt about her differently than he felt about Rick and TC. It was hard to explain and admit to himself in what way, but…Ethan was right. He loved her. </p>
<p>“I think I do,” he whispered. He didn’t know if Ethan heard because for a moment Ethan didn’t say anything. He didn’t look at him, but he didn’t look actively away either. At one point the silence just felt too long, so Thomas looked back at Ethan, who…smiled.</p>
<p>“She’s pretty great, trust me I can relate to that,” he replied, kindly, before looking at Juliet himself, Thomas could clearly see the love and adoration in Ethan’s eyes and for some reason, it bothered him less. Maybe it was because he had decided to support them or maybe it was because the admission of his own feeling was out now, whatever it was, it felt good, lighter.</p>
<p>“She is… I kind of expected you to react differently,” Thomas said, curious about how softly Ethan still spoke to him.</p>
<p>“Like what? A possessive Neanderthal? You love her, I love her, we have that in common and actually… you know I think it will make it easier for me to handle her getting in danger with you on your job.”</p>
<p>“How so?”</p>
<p>“You love her, means you’ll protect her with everything you got. She’s as safe as she can get when she’s out with you.”</p>
<p>“And when I fail you’re there to fix her.”</p>
<p>“Except I am literally not allowed to fix her anymore. Protocol.” True it was protocol and it was one of the first grievances he officially held against him. But he guessed it was just one more he had to chuck overboard. Ethan was a nice guy and it seemed like he thought the same of him. They could actually get along if they wanted to. And he guessed with all in the open, it might even get a lot easier between them. Now between him and Juliet, that may be complicated, but for some reason, it felt like he now had an unexpected ally he could confide in.</p>
<p>“Thank you, Ethan, for being so understanding about it,” Thomas said softly, barely audible. He had no reason to be, he could have tossed him out upon this realization, ensured that he wouldn’t spend more time with Magnum than necessary, but he was understanding about it, and…part of it felt like it was because the man was deeply in love with Juliet. He cared for her in a way that accepted Thomas as an important part of her life and it accepted that Thomas had feelings for her. </p>
<p>“Thank you for being honest about it, Thomas. I know that’s not easy, but I appreciate it.” </p>
<p>“As I appreciate you being so relaxed about it, not many - scratch that I don’t know a single one who would be so relaxed about that.”</p>
<p>“To be fair, you are her best friend, Thomas, so I always knew there was a certain love involved, a friendly, platonic kind. Romantic love is just an extension of it. And I got to know you by now. You want her to be happy. And I want the same thing. What that looks like is on her to decide, not on me or you to judge.” He had a very good point. Thomas smiled again, before moving, making himself as comfortable as he could on the cot, before he decided there was no way he could find a position that would allow him to sleep pain-free. There was however something he could do about it all: Ask Ethan for help, which would be an honest first on his part.</p>
<p>“Hey… any chance I could maybe get another dose of painkillers?” he asked Ethan. Ethan smiled in a way that told Thomas that he himself noticed that Thomas had never asked him for help like that before. Something told Thomas Ethan knew exactly what this meant, even if he himself was a little slow in realizing that meant he was more than ready to let Ethan into his ohana fully, on his own right, not just as an extension of Juliet.</p>
<p>“I’ll get you some.” Ethan left the room, to probably ask. Thomas turned to his partner, to watch her sleep like that, trying to distract himself a bit from the pain. Ethan’s assurances really helped him, maybe Juliet would not be mad at him as he feared. It was an accident, accidents happened. And eve if under other circumstances he may not have lost control, Juliet was not unreasonable. When she woke up - he at least tried to tell himself it was a when, not if - she would be fine and not mad at him. If anything she would scold him about feeling that way.</p>
<p>“I suspect no changes,” Ethan said as he came back, holding a cup of water and a pill. He handed it over to Thomas, so he could take it, which he did. With the pain dulling soon after, sleep quickly claimed him once again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once again he was woken by the shrill noises of the machines, or so he thought. He turned to Juliet’s bed instantly. Ethan stood by her bedside, but he looked calm. He moved along the machines, seemed to do something on them.</p>
<p>“What’s going on?” Ethan turned and smiled.</p>
<p>“Nothing to worry about. She’s fighting ventilation a bit. I called for assistance.”</p>
<p>“What does that mean? Does that mean she…?”</p>
<p>“She is trying to wake up.” Thomas grinned. He got up to hobble over to Juliet. Gently placing a hand on her shoulder, he looked down at her.</p>
<p>“You’re doing good. Now come back to us.” He looked around, ready to mention Ethan, expecting him to be by her other side, but he sat on his cot. Thomas threw him a questioning look.</p>
<p>“You got this. Let her focus on one person. I’ll take over when you have to sit back down.” And they both knew that would have to happen eventually. He was injured and needed a break. But for now, he stood there and got to talk to her until he had to return to his cot to rest some more.</p>
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